The Lady Cavaliers Soccer team were the first to take the field for Montreat College this fall when they faced off against the Liberty University (NCAA Division I) squad last Saturday in an exhibition game. The game ended in a 7-0 loss for the Cavs who faced enormous pressure from the Lady Flames. Despite the pummeling, the Montreat defense posted big numbers with Caroline Mellard recording 11 saves and Sarah McGuirt racking up six saves and allowing no goals. Coach Maples says, "I was very pleased to see our goalkeepers do so well. They got very little help from their defense, and it could have been worse had they not come up with some big saves. Our defense turned the ball over too many times in our defensive third with inaccurate passes, bad first touches and general panic. Liberty is a good team and they took their opportunities well. All but four of the seven goals were blown marks, no clearing of the ball after saves and not winning balls first. Offensively, we had no rhythm to our play, and panic on the ball when we got pressured and kicked it away. We won't face a team all year that pressures as hard a Liberty does. So I hope we learn from this and get back to playing simple soccer with great mobility off the ball. I hope we get our shape quicker, and become more disciplined in our support as well as improving our overall rhythm."

The Lady Cavs bounced back from their opening loss to take the win in an exhibition match against Mars Hill College yesterday, coming out on top 1-0. The Mars Hill Lions (NCAA Division II) hosted the Lady Cavaliers for the final exhibition game on the Montreat schedule for the year.

The Mellard and McGuirt goalkeeping team again posted a great performance, together recording shutouts in shared duties in goal. Offensively, it was sophomore Haley Eddy that knocked in the goal for the Cavaliers.

Coach Maples says, "This was such an inspiring game for us. Mars Hill played some quality soccer, and have some good speed up front. This was such a total team effort defensively for us. We disrupted their flow, and matched up well with their speed. Our defense had something to prove in this exhibition coming off the Liberty University game. Offensively, we switched up our formation and found our shape. We really spread the field in our shape, and that opened up some great lanes for us to penetrate to our front runners. We talked about having great movement off the ball this game, so that we would give our first attacker great options. That's what we got tonight, and it changed everything about our attack, as we had more time and space despite some good defensive pressure. As the game progressed, I was coaching less and less as the players started to carry it all on their own. That shows me progress. Now they have a taste of what they are capable of and anything less will be unacceptable. We can't get too excited about this. It's done, and it's feels great, but we have work to do every day to make it better."